Two channel amps with shared EQs

DanR

I've been looking at a few amps and a good few seem to share EQs over the two channels.

So I can never get both channels to sound as good as they can without compromising the other.

This becomes even worse when swapping to single coils.

What does everyone else do to get around this?

Or am I just being overly fussy.

Cirrus

It just depends, I guess.

Some people will find a setting that works on both channels, others won't. Just depends on taste and usage, so the amp will be right for some and wrong for others.

If the amp's only being used for one sound at a time it also doesn't matter - say it lives in a recording studio, if you want to change channel you can just go and tweak the EQ.

In a live environment, an amp either works for you or it doesn't.

timmysoft

I never have a problem with it! I know others will but I prefer only having one set of tone changes controls 

digitalscream

I've never had trouble with any two channel + shared EQ amp, apart from the Marshall Haze (which, frankly, is pants anyway).

The only times shared EQ has been a problem have been on three-channel amps -

1 - Soldano Decatone. Perfectly possible to get any two channels right, the third was just impossible.
2 - Randall NB King 30W - lead and rhythm channels share EQ, and both were crap on almost any setting Just a poorly-designed amp all round, really.

Dopesick

If it really bothered you, couldn't you get an EQ pedal so every time you switched channel, you engaged the EQ pedal to cater to that particular channel.

To make it easier, you could get one of those loopers/switchers which enables you to switch channel and engage a pedal in one stomp?

JayGee

My big gigging amp (Blackstar Series One 104)  shares two EQ sections between four channels (split between clean/crunch and filth/evenMoreFilth). With the channel/mode pairings and voicings they've chosen it actually works pretty well and (apart from sometimes wishing I had two instances of the crunch channel) I don't feel I'm having to make any significant compromises.

Sharing an EQ section between clean and filth however would have been less successful as I always seem to end up with the mid controls in particularly set very differently...    

DanR

JayGee said:

Sharing an EQ section between clean and filth however would have been less successful as I always seem to end up with the mid controls in particularly set very differently...    

This is where I have the issues.

I tend to find more mids preferred with gain and a flatter eq on clean.

Sassafras

If I had to use a 2 channel amp I'd do as @Dopesick suggests and use a graphic EQ. That'll give you even more opportunity to tailor your sound to exactly where you want it.

guitarfishbay

I only care if I need both sounds and the shared EQ doesn't work out. I can compromise on cleans to an extent but if it sounds bad then I'd rather skip the amp altogether

strtdv

I find it's OK if there's not a huge gap in gain between the two channels. I tend to use a pretty clean sound and then a gritty overdriven sound, but not a huge amount of distortion (if I want that I either use a boost on the gritty channel or a distortion pedal on the clean channel).

If there's a large difference in gain then either the clean will sound dull or the drive harsh in my experience.

There are exceptions to this, if the designer has thought about it and actually added extra fixed voicing tweaks between channels that aren't controlled by the EQ knobs.

richardhomer

Not found one yet where it's not an issue - but I'm after 'very' clean cleans (as in Blackface Fender) and mid-gain drives.

My current amp (Mesa Lonestar Special) has two sets of eq and is better - but not perfect.

I think few amps are really successful at doing both things well.

strtdv

Excuse the poor playing and bassy mix.
Mexican strat into a Laney Lionheart
Shared EQ for the clean and light overdrive, then a boost, a distortion, and a fuzz at the end.
No changes to EQ on the amp between sounds, no post-EQ, and the reverb is the amp reverb.

ICBM

richardhomer said:

Not found one yet where it's not an issue - but I'm after 'very' clean cleans (as in Blackface Fender) and mid-gain drives.

For me whether it works or not is entirely down to the individual amp - some designers clearly have similar tastes as I do, some don't. For me, I like the two channels to sound like the same amp - ie like what would happen if you turned up the gain and down the master. Some designers clearly don't want that.

richardhomer said:

My current amp (Mesa Lonestar Special) has two sets of eq and is better - but not perfect.

Have you have the 'pot swap' mod done? (Swapping the gain and master pots on the lead channel - no new parts needed.) It makes a surprisingly big difference - essentially it makes the two channels much more similar to each other, exactly as I would want.

I think a fair bit of it with shared-EQ amps is down to starting with the dirty channel rather than the clean too, since it's usually more 'touchy' - the Fender Hotrod is a good example of that for me. If you dial it in for the clean channel it can sound bad on the drive one - but if you do it the other way round and let the clean channel take care of itself, it's more successful. I am aware that I may be unusual in being able to get a sound I like out of the drive channel at all though .

Dave_Mc

^ yeah pretty much same for me, depends on the amp (and also the types of sounds i want to get out of the amp). Some amps are fine, some not so much.

p90fool

I'd be happy if I just had two identical channels with their own separate gain and volume controls, in fact I'm toying with seeing if it's possible to mod one of my stage amps this way.

I never use the second channel live for the same reason as the OP, but if it had the same voicing I would.

DanR

p90fool said:

I'd be happy if I just had two identical channels with their own separate gain and volume controls, in fact I'm toying with seeing if it's possible to mod one of my stage amps this way.

Yeah I'd like that.

I love about five different settings on my Dirty Shirley so two identical channels would be ideal.

Richardj

My Rivera Pubster has a boost rather than two channels, however it has it's own gain and master volume for the boost and has the same overall tonality, just dirtier.  I like that feature.

DanR

.

Dave_Mc

Richardj said:

My Rivera Pubster has a boost rather than two channels, however it has it's own gain and master volume for the boost and has the same overall tonality, just dirtier.  I like that feature.

Yeah that would be pretty useful- I have a few amps which have a boost but you can only control the boost amount and it basically means you can't really use them like two different channels, the volume is way too different (at least the way I use them, maybe I'm doing something wrong ).